TAMIU Student Retention Rate
Well Above State, National Norms

Students at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) keep coming back…and that’s a really good thing according to those who study student retention rates.

Nationally, up to one in three first-year students don't return for their sophomore year, making the national retention rate for selective four-year institutions granting bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees like TAMIU about 83%, according to ACT, a nonprofit organization focused on education and career assessments.

Student retention is important because if they don’t return, students can't earn their degree and their futures dim considerably.

At TAMIU, the retention rate for students remaining in higher education is almost 87% (86.50%), among the highest of The Texas A&M University System’s regional campuses. The retention rate for those returning students remaining at TAMIU is 74.10%, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Accountability System. Texas’ state average for student retention is about 73%.

What’s responsible for the high percentage of TAMIU students returning and maintaining their forward path to degree completion? Supportive programming, says TAMIU’s Dr. Conchita Hickey, Dean of TAMIU’s University College, which oversees the bulk of these programs.

“We have a variety of programs in place that are hyper-focused on keeping students engaged, supported and productive,” said Dr. Hickey.

“University College provides students with their ‘roots and wings’ - roots that are strengthened and deepened by strong academic support and wings that allow them to experience academic success and turn their career dreams into reality,” she explained.

“Among the programs offered are freshman seminars that are connected to learning communities and a common read with study abroad opportunities; peer mentoring and academic advising, tutoring services, student support services specific to freshman and sophomores, onsite testing services and developmental coursework in mathematics, reading and writing,” she added.

The programs, most of which are funded by State and Federal sources, are intensive and driven by shared student, faculty and staff commitments of time and resources.

The University’s investment in these services is both simple and profound, Hickey concluded.

“It’s simple in that we are providing supportive services that students need to succeed. It’s profound in that by doing so, we make them thrive, driving up our retention percentage and bringing them closer to our ultimate shared goal: timely graduation and the access to the career and life they envision for themselves,” she observed.

TAMIU’s Fall Semester 2014 begins Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014.

For enrollment information, click on tamiu.edu, email enroll@tamiu.edu or contact the Office of Admissions at 956.326.2200 or stop by offices in the Zaffirini Student Success Center.

For information on the services offered by University College, call 956.326.2134 or click on tamiu.edu/uc